


Sunshine Kiss

by mooncrises



Category: Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Comedy, Drama, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Shoujo-ai, Slow Burn, Slow To Update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 17:54:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15801633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mooncrises/pseuds/mooncrises
Summary: Yuki Ikeda is a new student at Ouran Academy with a tough exterior and just trying to get by and leave her past behind. Despite this, she finds herself at the butt end of a prank by the Hitachiin Twins that entangles her with the ever-popular Ouran Host Club.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, everyone! Perhaps you've seen this story before. I wrote the original version of this story when I was in the eighth grade on ff.net. By the time I finished it in high school, the story was completely different from what it was when it first started and I promised to rewrite it. I really hated the original and discourage you all from uncovering it. It is badly written, to say the least, for it came from the very narrow and naive mind of an eighth grader who was still very uneducated as to how the world works. 
> 
> I didn't want to post my rewrite until I had completed it, but now here I am, in my senior year of college, and still have not completed the rewrite. But I suppose I should start somewhere, right? I hope you all enjoy this story as much as I do writing it!! Comments are encouraged!!!

CHAPTER 1

“It’s a new semester, mom. I like it here at Ouran. It’s a little rough considering that I have to crossdress, and sometimes I feel a little lost in this grand world of glitters and golds. I’ve learned lots of things last semester. I’ve gotten stuck working for a stupid host club, but it may not be so bad.”

“Haruhi! Oh, Haruhi dearest! It’s been too long! Too long since I’ve last seen you! Since last semester!” A familiar voice wailed. Immediately following the voice was a body crashing against Haruhi Fujioka, crushing her into a strong bear hug. Haruhi inwardly groaned and made no movement to return, or even acknowledge, Tamaki Suoh’s affection.

“I saw you yesterday, senpai…” Haruhi muttered with an eyeroll. She sighed. It couldn’t be helped.

“See what I have to live with every day, mom?”

Suddenly, the weight was violently pulled away from the crossdresser. Tamaki was peeled off Haruhi and flung against the outside of the school wall by two redheaded twins. And the twins proceeded to wrap themselves like ivy around Haruhi. They cradled her, not as suffocating, but Haruhi did not move and instead, let out her annoyed groan.

“Would you guys just get off me?” Haruhi huffed, irritated.

“But we haven’t seen you in forever, Haruhi,” Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin protested in unison. “We’re going to escort you to class!”

“I don’t need an escort! Get off me!” Haruhi growled.

“Nu-uh! We missed you too much, Haruhi!”

“It’s not like I went anywhere!”

Similarly, but less rapidly, both redheads were lifted off Haruhi. Haruhi looked up at the person who blocked the sun, Takashi Morinozuka. And in each hand was a twin, held by the collars of their uniforms.

“Thanks, Mori-senpai.”

“It was nothing,” he responded simply.

“Hey!”

“Put us down, Mori-senpai!” the twins demanded. With a blank expression, Mori dropped them after stepping away from Haruhi. They cried out when their bottoms hit the cement, and then promptly barked at their expressionless upperclassman.

“Haru-chan!” Unlike Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru, Mitsukuni Haninozuka skipped to Haruhi’s side. Normally, he would have flung himself into her arms, but Hunny was smart enough to realize that Haruhi has had enough. Instead, the child-like upperclassman clung to Haruhi’s arm.

“Ready for a new semester?” Hunny asked with a twinkle in his brown eyes.

“As I’ll ever be,” Haruhi murmured, placing her free palm against her growing headache. “This’ll be one hell of a semester…”

Just then, the Ouran Academy school bell rang, indicating the start of school. Haruhi’s eyes widened with a cry of surprise and she immediately pulled away from her senpai.

“I’m going to be late for class! Damn you rich bastards!”

* * *

An alarm clock blared and resounded throughout the bedroom. It rang for a few seconds before a hand slammed down on it, before withdrawing back under the thick blanket. Silence settled and morning light began to fill the room. Ten minutes later, the alarm clock went off again.

The teenager rolled onto her back and an irritated groan left her lips. Cerise colored eyes fluttered open with much reluctance. She squinted at the sun’s light before her heavy eyelids fell shut again. She blindly stuck a hand out to hit her snooze button and pushed herself into an upright position. Taking her time, she stretched her arms and released a powerful yawn before retracting her hands to rub her tired eyes.

She turned her head to glance at the clock. Once her blurred gaze cleared, she focused on the time. However, she realized how late in the morning it actually was, and she let out a startled cry, followed by some curses.

“I’m so late!”

Throwing the covers aside, she sprung from her bed to her closet. She started to dig through, swiftly shuffling and examining each article of clothing. She huffed in frustration when she couldn’t find what she was looking for.

“I’m late and I still don’t have my uniform!” she grumbled. “And it’s my first day. Fantastic.”

With record speed, she had to settle for regular clothes—jeans and a t-shirt. She bolted out her room, snatched up her bag, grabbed a chocolate chip muffin baked the previous day, and was out the door. She threw her bag over her shoulder and hopped on her bike resting on the side of the house. She pedaled as fast as she could, almost creating smoke from the tires furiously rubbing against the asphalt.

"Kya! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!"

The school was isolated and a great distance away from her house, but she was able to make it in record time. She parked her bike and locked it on the nearest bike rack, before sprinting through the grand, pillared entrance of the school building. By the time she reached the front desk, she was out of breath and exhausted from her sudden morning workout.

"May I help you?" a woman spoke from where she sat behind the front desk the girl leaned on.

"Shira…” she breathed. She swallowed thickly and tried to slow her rapid heart rate. “Shirayuki Ikeda. But I go by Yuki. I just transferred here. I kinda overslept and kinda had to bike here but I’m here now.”

There was a terrible distaste in Yuki’s mouth once she stated her full name.

"Oh! You are here!” the woman turned away to assemble some papers and a bag. She handed Yuki a packet settled on top of a plastic bag containing a neatly folded purple and black uniform. Yuki skimmed the packet of paper and glanced at her uniform. She blinked, unsure if she saw it correctly.

“I think there’s a mistake here. This is a boys’ uniform,” Yuki pointed out blankly, trying to suppress her irritation. Did she really look like a guy?

“I’m sorry, Ikeda-san, but this is the uniform that was ordered and paid for you,” the receptionist said.

“But I’m a girl!” Yuki protested. “Can’t it just be swapped out with a girl uniform?”

“We don’t have any spare uniforms to make the switch. The rules are that you are to wear the uniform you ordered. If you have a problem with it, you can take it up with the headmaster. The only exception would be if financial or religious conflicts, or you are here on an honors scholarship," She explained.

“Fine. Thanks, I guess,” Yuki huffed and glared at the woman. It wasn’t her fault, but Yuki certainly didn't want to go through so much trouble for a damn uniform. And it really wasn’t the worst thing that’s ever happened to her.

Yuki walked briskly away with her items to the nearest bathroom. There was one nearby, although Yuki began to wonder if it actually was a bathroom once she was inside. It was insanely large and had a lounge full of plush pink couches and a wall of mirrors. Further back were the actual sinks and stalls, but they were decorated far more extravagantly than necessary for a high school bathroom. There were beautiful paintings hanging on the walls, gold trimmed mirrors, and sinks in the shape of seashells.

_How rich are these kids anyway?_ Yuki thought as she slipped into a pink colored stall. She quickly changed into her uniform and stuffed her old clothes in her bag. When she stepped out fully dressed, she squinted at the mirror across from her.

"This might not be so bad..."

It was the right size and it was pretty comfortable. But Yuki realized how much she truly looked like a guy. Her hair was short and cut similarly to a male’s, except with an ahoge. The dark color of her hair contrasted sharply with her large, cerise colored eyes. Her hair was a mess since she forgot to brush it, but her hair was short enough to look perfectly fine as a mess.

Yuki shrugged and decided that it was time for her to get to class. She was late enough as it was. Thankfully, there was a slip included in her packet excusing her tardiness. But when she left the bathroom, she realized she had no idea where she was and which way she needed to get to class 1-A.

"Where do I start in this huge school!?" she demanded, looking around. She swiftly walked down one hallway and went down as many as she could. It didn’t help that the room signs sometimes jumbled up on her. She didn’t know where she was going, but she was going, and she will keep going in circles until she found her classroom.

After running around in many different hallways, she was back in the beginning. She shuffled through her papers and flipped through them. Fortunately, there was the school map. Yuki smacked her forehead with her palm, muttering a curse towards her own stupidity in annoyance.

“There it is!” she pointed to it on the map. It was in the other building. She groaned. “Dammit…”

Yuki finally made it to her classroom and before she knew what she was doing, she was strolling right on in. Instantly, all eyes were on her. She gulped and forced herself forward. _Jeez, why don’t you stop a think a little, will ya?_ Yuki mentally berated. She masked her nervousness as best as she could, and it ended up intimidating everyone in the classroom, sending chills down their spines upon looking at her glare.

"Sorry, I'm late! I'm Ikeda Yuki," she said to the class president at the front of the room.

"Oh! You're the new transfer student!" the class president greeted. "My name is Kazukiyo Soga. Pleased to meet you! Why don’t you introduce yourself to the rest of the class?”

Silence settled in the classroom. Yuki scowled, and her glare made the temperature in the room drop another twenty degrees. That wasn’t her intent and she actually doesn’t realize she’s doing it at all, but the last thing she wanted to do was make her existence known to so many people. She heaved a sigh in irritation and turned her back to the class.

Yuki wrote her name on the chalkboard in small, sloppy characters. She dropped the chalk and spun back around to face the class.

“I’m Yuki Ikeda. Sorry I’m late. I sort of overslept,” Yuki joked nervously. Nobody laughed, and she was growing more uncomfortable as she toyed with a loose strand of hair. What is she supposed to say to them? Something cheesy? “Um...let’s all be friends and work hard together to make this year a good one?”

And they were sold. The whole class clapped and cheered for Yuki, exclaiming about how “inspiring” her words were! Except for Haruhi, who sat there, deadpanned. Yuki was deadpanned as well, and she sweat dropped.

“I hate all these damn rich people…” both Yuki and Haruhi muttered under their breaths, but no one heard it.

“Alright, Yuki-san. There’s an open seat behind Haruhi there in the middle,” Soga said as he pointed in Haruhi’s direction. With a sigh, Yuki stalked over to the empty seat. Whispers floated through the air, but Yuki was too tired to hear them. She sat down quietly and class began, but Yuki eventually dozed off. The Hitachiin brothers smirked.

"A new student…You thinking what I'm thinking, Kaoru?" Hikaru asked.

"Of course, Hikaru. This one looks like fun," Kaoru replied.

"What are you guys up to?" Haruhi asked.

"Oh, nothing!" they said in unison. Haruhi glared at them, then focused back on the lesson. The brothers smirked again.

Yuki fell asleep and woke up periodically throughout the day. She was really interested and stayed awake during Home Economics. Yuki was excused from gym class because the school knew her dance record. She was pretty disappointed, being one of the few people who enjoyed gym class very much. Her other favorite subject was lunch, and Yuki was quite impressed with the extravagant and fancy dining hall, even if she did sit alone. Well, Yuki had _intended_ to sit alone, but many of her classmates approached her curiously with many questions about her and her old school. Being irritable from sleeping last period, Yuki’s answers were short and tired.

* * *

The school bell rang, signaling the end of the day. A loud yawn escaped from Yuki as she forced her eyes to open. She felt quite irritable being so abruptly woken, even by an inanimate object, but it was nice to see that the classroom has emptied so there was no one to bother her. Everyone has either gone home or to a club now.

Yuki collected her things with hurry and rushed outside. She had dance this evening. It wasn’t until later, but she needed to at least get a start on chores and the homework she remembered to do. She grabbed her bike and hopped on it. Yuki kick-started off the ground, but her bike was so hard to handle, that she crashed. Cursing, Yuki got back on her feet and tried to kick-start forward once more, but then her bike completely fell apart and she crashed once more, scraping her hands and knees. Yuki gave her tires an uncertain squeeze before letting the air out of them. However, instead of air whizzing out, thick white mayonnaise oozed out.

“What the hell?” Yuki looked around, then spotting two redheaded classmates doubled over and laughing hysterically.

"Good job, Kaoru! Way to rig the bike!" Hikaru laughed.

"It was your idea, Hikaru! And you were the one who got the mayo! I can't take credit for everything!" Kaoru protested gleefully.

A glare swept across Yuki's face.

"You two!" she yelled as she marched menacingly towards them. At the sound of her angry voice, the twins had stopped laughing and darted from her. She chased them into and throughout the school, with a scary look on her face, and a terrified one on theirs.

“You’re gonna pay for that!” Yuki threatened, hot on their heels.

How dare they pull something on her like that! They try to prank Yuki and make her look bad on her first day? They try to ruin her reputation before she can even create one? How the hell was she supposed to get home now in time to do homework and go to practice? And to top it off, this happens right after she wakes up! She wasn’t in the mood to put up with this crap today!

However, the twins unexpectedly ran down a particular hallway. What made this one different was that it had a mirror in a gold frame hanging on the wall. When Yuki raced passed it, something had caught her eye. Yuki had to backtrack, which allowed the twins to increase distance between her, but her curiosity had gotten the better of Yuki. And what she saw was drawings. There were stupid drawings and writing all over her forehead, cheeks, nose, jaw, chin, everywhere! They've been on her face for God only knows how long! Yuki knew it was those horrible twins, and it made her blood boil as she angrily rubbed her sleeve against her face. Hungry for revenge, Yuki sprinted after them.

Hikaru and Kaoru took cover in the famous Music Room Three. Yuki didn't slow down. She opened the door. Rose petals flew past her. She ran inside, ignoring the rose petals that would normally catch other people's attention.

"You're dead meat!" she snapped. She spotted them hiding behind five handsome boys, one of them her classmate. The first pair of eyes she met were hidden behind glasses.

Yuki charged towards them, and they took off. Yuki dived and tackled one of them and they wrestled. She grabbed the collar of his shirt, but then the other twin began to peel her off. She tackled that twin and they wrestled around the room, destroying it.

"Mayonnaise in the tires…" Kyoya sighed, writing in his clipboard, "I know this won't get through your heads, but I'll ask you once again that if you're going to prank someone, leave the Host Club out of it. We can't have any damage done to the room. Our funds would go down the drain." But he was watching them with amusement in his eyes.

"You greedy little…" Hikaru began.

"How did you know what we were doing with the mayo?" cried Kaoru, but his question was ignored.

"Now, now,” Tamaki stepped forward in an attempt to keep the twins and Yuki separated. “Welcome to the Host Club. I am the King, Tamaki Suoh. What is a young fellow doing here?" He stepped closer to Yuki, uncomfortably invading her personal bubble. Yuki ignored him and stepped around to storm over to Hikaru and Kaoru.

"I’m here for you, carrot tops! You two owe me a new bike!" Yuki demanded.

"What did you do this time?" Haruhi asked.

"It was only a joke," they said in unison.

"What did you guys do?" Tamaki repeated Haruhi’s question in a firm tone.

"Milord, we pulled a small prank by loosening the bolts and putting mayo in Ikeda's bike," came their reply.

"You're bleeding!" Hunny said, pointing to Yuki's cheek. "Here! I'll get that!" Hunny reached up with a napkin, but was sadly too short and couldn't reach her face. Not that Yuki was tall anyway, for she was about an inch taller than Haruhi.

A tall, dark man came from behind Hunny and took his napkin. Mori then crouched and wiped Yuki's face properly, the rest of the marker coming right off and the blood disappearing.

"You hurt the new student!?” Haruhi cried.

"He was the one who fell off the bike! And it was only a joke!" they repeated.

"Joke or not, you ruined my only way to get here. You owe me a new bike," Yuki growled.

"Or what?" Kaoru asked. Yuki put on her scary face.

"I'll be your worst nightmare," she hissed.

"No way," they both said bluntly, unfazed. She fell.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen. Do not fret. I'm sure there's a way to work this out. I'm an excellent mediator, you know!" Tamaki said with a dramatic wave of his arms, going off to fantasyland.

"Get lost. I'm not interested in talking to you.” Yuki turned away from the blonde and started towards the brothers again. Tamaki gasped and fell into despair. She was too ticked off to deal with anyone else. She just wanted to these twins to pay for her bike.

"Why do you need a bike so bad?" Kaoru asked.

"Why can't you just take your limo?" Hikaru added. Yuki groaned internally. Rich bastards. Fine. If Yuki was going to get another bike from them, she's going to have to act like them.

"I'm going green," Yuki replied flatly. "You damaged my property, now you must pay for it before I call my lawyer."

"Nu-uh! He's bluffing!" The twins accused.

"You accuse me of bluffing?" Yuki asked with a death glare that finally petrified the twins and Tamaki.

"N-not at all! He wouldn't be bluffing! Right?" Tamaki asked shakily, cracking under Yuki's cold gaze.

"Right!" Hunny agreed happily.

"Right! Now let's just calm down everyone! No lawyers need to be called!" Tamaki went on. Yuki and Haruhi rolled their eyes.

"Now give me a new damn bike," Yuki growled.

"You're the one who rode on it and it fell to pieces, so it's technically your fault!" the twins protested.

"Guys, just pay him back!" Haruhi snapped in annoyance.

"What do your parents do anyway?" Hunny asked innocently. Yuki began to panic. She had to come up with something!

"Well—"

"Ikeda Yuki is the son of Ikeda Gou and Manami. Gou is the CEO of a large international car paint company," Kyoya suddenly cut in. Yuki gaped at him in surprise. Yuki's father died when Yuki was a little girl. Her mom told her that her father's name was Jun, not Gou. And her mother's name was Akane, not Manami. So what was this guy doing? Making up stuff to help her out? Sure, she guessed she could take that for now. Nonetheless, Yuki couldn't suppress a smirk when witnessing the twins' jaws drop.

"I thought I heard that name before...we didn't know he was your dad," the twins muttered in defeat as they fished through their pockets for their wallets. They pulled out their wallets and handed Yuki more money than she had planned for, which caught her off guard.

"That much!? I just needed a new bike!" Yuki protested, gaping in total shock of all the money placed in her hands.

"What? You're acting like that's the most money you can make in a week," Hikaru said.    

"For a guy from such a rich family, you seem to act so surprised at the amount, like every penny counted," Kaoru pointed out, suspicious. Yuki jumped back, freaking out. She couldn't let them know…

"Well—" Yuki was cut off.

"Ah-ha!" Hikaru and Kaoru said, leaping in her face. "You lied!"

"N-no I didn't!” Yuki protested, but she was shrinking under their intense golden gazes. “It's just that, this is a lot of money for a bike. I didn't need this much. My information is my information, believe it or not. Even he said so, and he looks smart!" Yuki assured when she pointed to Kyoya, trying to get by. Hikaru and Kaoru looked behind Yuki, and smirked.

"Your expression gave something away, Yuki," Hikaru began, stepping closer with Kaoru. Yuki stepped back.

"You acted like that money was like a million yen!" Kaoru accused. Hikaru and Kaoru crept closer to Yuki, who continued to step back.

“Guys,” Haruhi warned.

"We're just curious. So, Yuki, why did you react the way you reacted? It's not natural for a RICH guy from a RICH family," they both said simultaneously in Yuki’s face. Yuki jumped back, and she slips on a banana peel (that was randomly placed there). A vase on a pedestal (that somehow was randomly placed behind Yuki) was knocked over. Yuki gasped, and reached to grab it. However, she fell on the podium and tumbled down with it, the vase shattering into millions of pieces by Yuki's head.

"Noooo! That vase came from Italy! From the Renaissance! We were going to feature that vase in a silent auction this weekend!" Hikaru said dramatically.

"Why'd you break it? Your bike wasn't worth as much as that vase!" Kaoru wailed with a wide gesture with his arms. Yuki laid there on her stomach, frozen in place with her jaw wide open. "That vase was worth at least ¥8,000,000!"

"It-it was an accident! I'm sorry! Wait, 8 MILLION YEN?! Seriously!?" Yuki cried, propping herself up on her hands. "Why so high?! That's outrageous!"

"What a coincidence," Kyoya said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Haruhi placed her fist on the palm of her hand in realization.

"Wait a minute!" Haruhi gasped.

"Now you owe us~!" the twins sang merrily. Yuki groaned and let her hands give out from under her, resting her head against the pearly pink marble floors.

"You owe us~! You have to pay us back~!" the twins chimed.

"You're kidding, right?! I can't pay that!" Yuki protested. "Maybe I can put it back together..." Yuki didn't bother sitting up as she collected the tiny pieces of the vase.

"Just ask your dad for the money," Hikaru suggested casually. Yuki sat up.

"Unless you can't," Kaoru spoke. Yuki reached into her back pocket for her wallet with shaky hands. She produced her wallet and opened it. A moth flew out. Yuki sighed and hung her head.

"I'm sorry, but I can't pay off the vase…" Yuki admitted. Hikaru and Kaoru high-fived and cheered in victory. "We don't have the money..."

“We were right!”

"But mommy said that your father was a CEO!" Tamaki protested, spinning around to see Kyoya still writing in that black notebook of his.

"Must've read the wrong information. My apologies," Kyoya responded. Everyone's jaws dropped. Yuki’s eyebrow twitched, and she glared at him. "Ikeda Yuki is the son of Ikeda Jun and Ikeda Akane. Akane is a secretary and Jun is a construction worker."

Now that sounded...more or less accurate.

"I knew it! You're poor! You’re a commoner!" the twins accused.

"It's called middle class!" Yuki snapped bitterly. But that wasn’t her mother’s job...and her father was dead...what the hell is four eyes doing to her? He’s making the situation much worse! Now she’ll never get out of this situation!

"Oh, my dearest Yuki!" Tamaki cried. "I'm so sorry to hear that! Forget the broken vase! You just go right home and rest! No, don't go home! I'll protect you from poverty!"

"I'm not in poverty and I don't need protection!" Yuki grumbled.

"Hey! When I broke the vase, you made me join this stupid club!" Haruhi protested.

"Well, he still has to pay for the damages to our room," Kyoya pointed out. "I think enslavement is our best option."

"You owe us, Yuki. If you can't pay us, then you'll be our little slave," Hikaru and Kaoru snickered.

“Yeah! Join the club! I want Yuki-chan to join us!” Hunny chimed.

“What do you think we should do with him, Tamaki?” Kyoya asked. Tamaki brought a hand to his chin and closed his eyes in a pause for thought. There wasn’t much to think about and a smile was brought to his face before his violet eyes flew open.

"From this day forward, you will now be our dog-boy since Haruhi has failed to do so! You’re stuck with us forever!" Tamaki announced.

“That doesn’t mean we’re married, are we?” Yuki groaned. Haruhi snorted.

Yuki then came to a sudden realization. They all think she’s a guy. They’ve been calling her a guy, a boy, and using male pronouns. But Yuki almost couldn’t blame them. She _was_ in a guy’s uniform and has a guy’s haircut. _Well that was new_.  

"Now, our first order of business! Run to the store and get us some instant coffee, my good friend!" Tamaki declared. He grabbed Yuki's hand and pulled her to her feet, startling her. "The princesses will be arriving soon!"

“We aren’t friends.”

* * *

 

_Chapter One: That Spring_


	2. 2

CHAPTER 2

Yuki came back with the instant coffee an hour later.   
  
"What took you so long?!" Tamaki demanded, "I thought poor Yuki was hit by a car on the way there!" Tamaki was clutching Yuki as he fantasized Yuki getting hit by a car, the instant coffee flying out of the paper bags, and her body collapsing on top the spilled coffee grounds with an arm draped over her abdomen and her eyelids peacefully shut.  
  
Yuki reflected on what she was actually doing. She went next door to the arcade and was playing her favorite video games. Some kid challenged her and boasted that he could beat her at the dancing arcade game. Obviously, the kid needed to get set straight and an intense showdown began.   
  
"There was a long line…Anyway, you still got your coffee," Yuki replied, handing him the bag.   
  
"You're going to make it for me, my little dog boy!" Tamaki returned the bag of instant coffee to Yuki, who groaned in response. She walked to the back room, guessing that that was where she could prepare the instant coffee.   
  
However, upon entering the back room, she slammed right into someone. Yuki fell back and fell flat on her butt, but had clutched the brown paper grocery bag to protect the instant coffee. Definitely will not mess up after the previous incident of her clumsiness. When she lifted her eyes upward, Yuki had discovered she had run right into four-eyes, but she didn’t know his name.  
  
"My apologies. I wasn't watching where I was going, Ikeda-san," Kyoya offered a hand to Yuki.   
  
"I wasn't looking either…” Yuki muttered. She ignored his hand and got to her feet. “Why bother with formalities if I'm your slave?"   
  
"Fair point," Kyoya agreed. Yuki brushed herself off a little.   
  
"Just call me Yuki. No formalities or anything. I'm nothing special," Yuki said. She stepped around him and started to prepare the instant coffee for the King.   
  
"I am quite curious to know how you got into this school with your current income and such horrible grades," Kyoya asked Yuki, pushing up the glasses on the bridge of his nose. Yuki stopped what she was doing and whipped her head to glare at the taller man.   
  
"Quit snooping through my records!" Yuki snapped. She turned back to the instant coffee and started preparing it angrily. "Jeez, if you have to know, I got kicked out of my old school."   
  
"For what?"  
  
"Fighting.”  
  
"But how are you able to afford a school such as Ouran?"  
  
"I don't know!" Yuki scowled. It was the truth. "If you're so curious, ask my brothers! They must've struck gold or something because they showed up one day and announced that I'll be attending this school."   
  
"Without an explanation?"   
  
"They used too many big words so I gave up," Yuki answered. "You look smart. Can you tell me what the hell this thing is? Host club?”  
  
"I suppose you've never been formally introduced to everyone," Kyoya remembered aloud. Yuki poured the coffee into cups and set them on a fancy gold tray pulled from a shelf. "Let me run you by everything." They stood in the doorway, observing the host club activities.   
  
"Tamaki Suoh is the king of the Ouran Host Club. He founded this club and is the most requested. He is the 'Princely Type.'" Kyoya motioned over to Tamaki's table with a large group of girls around it.

“Type?”

“Every customer prefers a certain type of host. It’s their character, if you will,” he explained. "Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin are your classmates, so I don't need to give any explanation there except tell you that they're the 'Mischievous Type.' Haruhi Fujioka is also your classmate, and he is the 'Natural Type.'"   
  
"Is that Japan's Next Top Shota over there?" Yuki pointed to the small strawberry blond.   
  
"Over there we have our third years, Mitsukuni Haninozuka-senpai and Takashi Morinozuka-senpai. They go by Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai respectively. Hunny-senpai is the 'Loli-Shota Type' and Mori-senpai is the 'Wild Type.'"

"He doesn't look wild to me." 

"You haven't been here long enough."   
  
Yuki stared at Kyoya intently. Kyoya turned his head to face her. "And who the hell are you?" Yuki asked blankly. "Otherwise you'll always be known as four eyes."   
  
"Kyoya Ohtori."   
  
"I would say nice to meet you, senpai, but nothing about this is nice.”  
  
Yuki went to deliver the coffee to all of the hosts and their customers. Tamaki nearly suffocated Yuki and almost spilled all of the instant coffee on her. Yuki made a note to always go to him last.

“Hey, Yuki,” Haruhi spoke as Yuki served hot coffee to the sitting brunette. Yuki lifted her eyes to meet Haruhi’s, but said nothing. “Thanks for the drinks. I used to serve most of the tea around here while hosting, so I guess I really appreciate the extra hand.”

“Sure. Part of my job now,” Yuki muttered bitterly. Haruhi paused and studied Yuki. Yuki was waiting if Haruhi had anything further to say to her.

“I’m sorry you got into this mess,” Haruhi continued. She cleared her throat. “If it makes you feel any better, the same thing happened to me.”

“You accidentally broke an ¥8,000,000 vase and you’re indebted to these guys too?” Yuki asked sarcastically. Haruhi chuckled.

“Yeah. Exactly.”

“Seriously? _Exactly?_ ”

“Yeah. Last semester, I was looking for a quiet place to study and I came in here. One thing lead to another and I accidentally broke a different vase, but it was worth ¥8,000,000. So now I’m working it off as a host,” Haruhi explained to Yuki’s surprised face.

“For how long?”

“Until I get one thousand requests,” Haruhi replied in an annoyed tone.

“Damn. Yours sounds more definite than mine though.” Yuki sighed and looked at the steam rising off the dark liquid. “That’s a freaky coincidence that we both did the same thing and ended up in debt to them. What do those guys do? They just leave expensive vases lying around like it’s no big deal?”

“Yeah, it is weird. But it’s hard to imagine they'd set either of us up on purpose either.”

Yuki shrugged and reached around to her other shoulder to adjust her sliding bra strap. She opened her mouth to say more, but was cut off by another voice.

“Yuki-chan!” Hunny called. Yuki rolled her eyes and shot Haruhi a pleading look.

“Duty calls,” she muttered as she picked up the silver tray containing the rest of the instant coffee. “Enjoy your drink.”

As Yuki turned on her heel and dragged herself to where Hunny and Mori sat, Haruhi’s eyes widened in realization. The second light bulb was lit.    
  
"Yuki-chan!" Hunny greeted cheerfully. Hunny and Mori were the last ones of Yuki's trip to deliver the instant coffee to. “What took you so long? You’re keeping me and all these pretty ladies waiting for our instant coffee!”

Yuki gritted her teeth and gripped the tray tighter in her hands.   
  
"You're new, aren't you?" one of the females asked. Yuki nodded.   
  
"Yuki-chan was so sweet to help us out here!" Hunny informed. Yuki glared. Like she had a choice. "Do you want some cake—"   
  
"Yes," Yuki said without hesitation. Placing the tray on the mahogany coffee table, Yuki plopped next to Hunny, but not too close, and he handed her a piece of chocolate cake. Yuki tried a bite of it, and it practically melted in her mouth. It was so soft and creamy and delicious...Yuki would be perfectly content eating this for the rest of her life. And you could tell this, judging by the blush on her face, the hand to her cheek, and the pastel shoujo bubbles floating around her happy face.

“Mmm! Chocolate is my favorite!”  
  
So Hunny and Yuki spent a lot of time eating a lot of cake. Yuki and Hunny were both content, happy to be with someone who shares their appetite. She kept quiet most of the time, but also found amusement in watching the girls fawn over the adorable Hunny. She didn't say anything or laugh...on the outside.   
  
"I completely forgot!" Hunny suddenly gasped. "Yuki-chan hasn't met Usa-chan yet!"   
  
"Usa-chan?" Yuki cocked her head to one side. Hunny picked up the stuffed pink bunny and held it up to Yuki.   
  
"That's Usa-chan?" Yuki asked. A stupid grin spread across her face, her eyes sparkling and her cheeks turning pink. "It's so cute! It's so fluffy and pink!" Yuki squealed, bringing her palms to her face as she squirmed with delight.   
  
After realizing what an embarrassing act she had done, Yuki stopped herself. As quickly as she had fawned over Usa-chan, Yuki stubbornly turned her head away, refusing to look at Usa-chan for another second. But she still couldn't keep herself from blushing and it took everything in her to suppress a smile.   
  
Hunny blinked at Yuki and then grinned. He could've sworn Yuki was sneaking glances out of the corner of her eye over at the bunny.   
  
And there goes lightbulb number three.   
  
"Yeah! He is!"   
  
Eventually, Yuki had to leave Hunny's table to go serve refills of the instant coffee upon Tamaki's demand. She had to make another pot.   
  
"So Haruhi has to get one thousand requests to pay off his debt. How am I supposed to pay off mine?" Yuki asked Kyoya. He sat alone at a table near the back room and worked on his laptop.   
  
"That is really up to the king. He has decided you to work it off as our slave, but the length of time is undetermined," Kyoya replied.  
  
"What if I run away?" Yuki questioned with a smirk.  
  
"For one, can you even afford a plane ticket?" Kyoya countered. Yuki hung her head in shame. "You should know that I have my own private police force of one hundred men. If you were to run away anywhere, you wouldn't stay there for very long. I can assure you that you’ll never get to leave this country, unless it is deportation by me. Wherever you run, I will find you," he said, pushing his glasses up his nose.   
  
"You sound pretty full of yourself."

“Would you like to challenge my police force?”

“Pass.”  
  
It would be a lie if Kyoya said something wasn’t bothering him on his computer screen. How did something like this get past security systems?

"Your records are strange, Yuki. Is it some kind of joke?"  
  
"I don't know what you mean by that." Yuki batted her eyelashes innocently. “I thought you read my records to everyone.”  
  
"The records the school have on you say that your mother is Akane Fujita, and your father is Jun Kurosu. Both of them are fictional characters. And it says that you have two older brothers, Mamoru Chiba and Naruto Uzumaki. Both are also fictional characters. And their following occupations are the Wicked Witch of the West, a survivor of Jurassic Park, Tuexdo Mask, and a ninja respectively." Kyoya explained.   
  
"Spoilers," Yuki joked.  
  
"And it says that you live in the Garden of Rainbows. And that you previously attended Hogwarts," Kyoya went on. Yuki was laughing.   
  
"Well, the first one isn’t _wrong._ What's life without a little mystery, anyway?" Yuki teased. "That'll teach you to mind your own goddamn business."

* * *

Meanwhile, the twins had just finished with a few clients and now had a break, so they decided to pull another prank on Yuki. She was in the back room, chatting with Kyoya, so they took the opportunity. Hikaru and Kaoru snatched up Yuki's bag and started fishing through it.   
  
Both of them were totally thrown off guard once they found a small bag of tampons in it, which they immediately dropped back into the schoolbag like it was going to give them the plague. They exchanged nervous glances and then silently agreed to find her student ID.   
  
They fished out her slim wallet and opened it to reveal an old student ID. The picture was Yuki with long wavy hair, wearing the school uniform of her old school. It stated on her ID, “Sex: Female.”  
  
Two more light bulbs lit up.   
  
"What are you two doing?" Haruhi asked the twins. "Are you going through Yuki's stuff? Don't do that! That's invading his privacy!" Haruhi snatched the ID and wallet from their hands.

“Not his! Her!”

Haruhi casually placed the ID into the wallet and slipped it into Yuki’s bag.

“Haruhi! Don’t you realize that Yuki’s a girl?!” they demanded.

“Yeah, I already knew,” Haruhi replied.

“How!?”

“Women’s intuition.”

* * *

"Yuki-kun! Can I get a glass of water?"  
  
Great. First coffee for Tamaki, and now Yuki was bringing water to the ladies. This was getting exhausting, physically and mentally. Not only was she immersed in such grandeur, but also surrounded by a beautiful chaos she had to do bidding for. All on her first day at school. Well, at least she'll have great stories to tell her grandkids. And she'll probably have to constantly reassure all of them that this actually happened, because at the moment, as she poured water from the purest lakes in secret foreign mountains into glasses clearer than her 20/20 eyesight, she was telling herself the same thing.   
  
Yuki approached Hunny and Mori’s table, where the request came from. And, naturally, because this day was going so well, Yuki tripped over her own feet. She cried out and stumbled over, her feet slipping out from under her and the glasses sliding forward off the silver platter. Her body was to soon follow the glasses that crashed against the marble floors.  
  
Until an arm wrapped around her waist.  
  
The long arm grabbed her by her waist and jerked her backward onto her heels. Yuki stumbled back against a body and tilted her head up. Mori's blank face loomed over her, which took Yuki by surprise. However, Mori's blank expression changed into raised eyebrows and widened eyes that matched Yuki's surprised face.   
  
A sixth lightbulb lit up.   
  
"Erm, thanks, Mori-senpai," Yuki said, giving a half smile before pulling herself away.   
  
"You are starting to lose your charm, my little dog boy. And if you're going to be a proper gentleman like the rest of us young men, I'm going to have to give you lessons on grace and poise," Tamaki announced.

“This room is the worst room ever. Everything in here is against me,” Yuki groaned.   
  
"At this point, would it matter if I told you that this would be added to your debt?" Kyoya questioned.   
  
"You're only pissing me off even more."   
  
"I assumed so."  
  
"It's just a couple of glasses! I swear, the next ones that are going to break today are the ones on your face, four eyes."  
  
"Seriously, how many times are you going to trip today?" Hikaru asked.   
  
"I don't think you should be trusted with fragile things,” Kaoru suggested. Yuki glared at the twins.

“Like your egos?” she muttered. The twins frowned deeply and Tamaki was already growing mushrooms in a dark corner. "It's just a couple of glasses, guys! Jeez!"  
  
"You better clean it up, Yuki-chan!" Hunny instructed.  
  
"Why me?!"  
  
"It's part of the job description," Kyoya informed.  
  
"What job description?! I'd like to read it!" Yuki growled. Kyoya handed her a sheet of paper. Yuki gritted her teeth and crunched the paper into a ball aggressively with both her hands. She then tossed it behind her, which incidentally hit Tamaki.   
  
Yuki reluctantly cleaned up the broken glass and spilled water. While she was at it, they made her clean the rest of the floor. She did so, but extremely aggressively.

When the host club was closing, many girls did say they were happy to meet Yuki as they left.  
  
"I'm outta here," Yuki grumbled, snatching up her bag as she walked to the door.  
  
"Where are you going, Yuki-chan? You don't have a bike!" Hunny asked. Yuki twitched. 

"Thanks for reminding me..." Yuki muttered.   
  
"Don't forget to come back tomorrow!" The twins called.   
  
"I'm not coming back."   
  
"Of course you will. Remember, you have no choice in this after you decided to damage our room," Kyoya said.   
  
"Fine then. If I have to be here, then I'll make every day the worst day of your entire lives," Yuki threatened with a scary look in her eyes. Tamaki, the twins, and Hunny dramatically turned white and started shaking uncontrollably as they backed away. “I’d start sleeping with one eye open if I were you guys. I’m out!”

* * *

 

_Chapter Two: Illuminating_


	3. 3

CHAPTER 3

 

“Look, as much as I  _love_ being here, I have other places I need to be,” Yuki complained as she stood tensely with her arms folded.

“We have to teach you how to dance for our ball!” Tamaki announced. Yuki snorted.

“The club closed early for this, Yuki. I suggest you don’t waste any of Tamaki’s time,” Kyoya chided from his seat at his laptop. Yuki rolled her eyes.

“What’s the point? Technically, I’m not a host so it’s not like I’ll dance with anyone. I don’t even need to be there,” Yuki protested.

“Nonsense! You are just as much of a member as everyone else! So it is of utmost importance that you attend! Besides, we’ll need someone to clean up afterwards!” Tamaki replied.

“When’s the ball again?” Haruhi asked.

“Tomorrow night,” The twins said. Yuki’s eyes widened as a groan escaped her mouth. Tomorrow night was her recital. She had her own solo and everything. She had a whole team depending on her. But now she had a host club depending on her? 

" _Oh, come on. Any night but tomorrow night,_ " she whined. 

“Are you suggesting that we switch our dates and tell our guests that the night of their dreams is going to be moved because you do not want to attend tomorrow?” Kyoya asked. Yuki hung her head in defeat, muttering swears under her breath against everything. Okay, so she’s just going to go to both. Somehow.

“Now, then!” Tamaki went on. “Let’s get to business! As a member of this club, it is required to know ballroom dance.”

Before Yuki could protest, Tamaki already took her hands in his. Reluctantly, Yuki placed her hand on Tamaki’s shoulder.

“Put your hand on my hip,” Yuki muttered the command. The twins snorted. “If we’re going to do this, at least do it right!”

“That’s the spirit, Yuki! Except, you’re going to have to put your hand on my hip, since we are teaching you how to dance with a girl. My hand will go on your shoulder,” Tamaki instructed. 

“What!? But you’re so much taller than me! This is weird!” Yuki snapped. Tamaki seemed stubborn and didn’t remove his hand from Yuki’s shoulder. Yuki rolled her eyes and moved her hand to Tamaki’s hip.

“Now, we begin the waltz! We’ll take this slow so just follow my footing,” As if on cue, an orchestra began to play from speakers. As they began to dance, Tamaki said, “I’ll begin to lead you since you’re learning, but eventually you’re going to have to take over and lead me as if you would for a princess—”

Tamaki was stopped short from his sentence when he realized how Yuki was dancing with him. It was a waltz, and she kept up perfectly well, so much so that she was, in fact, leading Tamaki the entire time.

“Hey! What’s the big idea?! I’m supposed to lead you, and you’re supposed to follow! You’re not supposed to know the steps! Where did you learn how to do this!?” As Tamaki ranted, Yuki continued to sweep him away with a satisfied smile on her face. She loved it when she gained the upper hand, especially in such a situation where it is rarely likely.

“You know, I’m not  _that_ stupid, senpai,” Yuki said. “I may have picked up a thing or two outside the box I live in down some alley.”

“What!? You’re living in a box!?”

“Wow. She pulled one over Tamaki-senpai,” Haruhi muttered as she stood near the laughing twins.

“Yuki-chan must have done this before!” Hunny pointed out, with a silent nod from Mori. Haruhi arched an eyebrow at the idea.

“Yuki doesn’t seem like the kind of person who attends ballroom dances,” Haruhi said. To Haruhi, Yuki was a big tough girl who didn’t take crap from anybody. She seemed like the type of girl who enjoyed boxing or skateboarding or...something that wasn’t so fancy or girly. Yuki even dipped Tamaki, which only made the king more upset and surprised everyone else further. “Then again, I haven’t known her for very long. I don’t know much about her at all.”

“I’m sure Kyoya-senpai knows everything about her,” the twins suggested.

“I’m in the process of uncovering her files, since most of them provided inadequate data,” Kyoya responded.

“Inadequate data?” Haruhi asked.

“Yuki had them filed as jokes, without actually providing any factual information. Somehow that was overlooked by the system. It may take longer than usual, but I’ll be able to find some information on her.”

“Maybe it isn’t a good idea to pry. It’s an invasion of privacy and we’d never be able to get to know her personally,” Haruhi pointed out.

“Technicalities,” Hikaru and Kaoru said with bored yawns. Haruhi sighed.

The song ended, and Yuki finished with another dip to Tamaki. But as soon as the song ended, Yuki dropped Tamaki onto the floor on his back mid-dip, and turned away. He yelped in pain but quickly recovered and jumped to his feet.

“Hey! That was totally and completely unfair! You have some explaining to do!” Tamaki yelled. He marched around Yuki to stand over her.

“I don’t have to explain anything,” Yuki countered with a yawn. “It’s not my fault I’m a better dancer than you.”

“You’re not a better dancer than me! I’m the king! I’m the best dancer! You just threw me off guard!” Tamaki pouted. Yuki chuckled.

“Alright, well, this has been swell, but I gotta go,” Yuki sidestepped away from Tamaki, but Hunny blocked her path further.

“We’re going to see you tomorrow at the ball, right, Yuki-chan?”

Yuki heaved a sigh. No, they’re not. She made a commitment to her team and she was not going to disappoint them. But Yuki couldn’t explain this to Hunny, or Tamaki, or to any of them. For one thing, she was enjoying the fact that they still think she’s a guy. But dancing was a deep secret Yuki didn’t want them to know. She knew that if they knew, she’d never hear the end of it. They’d make fun of her and her dream of becoming a ballerina. Ridicule was not something Yuki was going to tolerate anymore.

“Fine. I’ll be there,” Yuki assured as she twirled a loose strand of hair around her finger. Kyoya narrowed his eyes at Yuki and rose from where he sat.

“You’re only a commoner, but are you and Haru-chan going to have something nice to wear?” Hunny continued. Yuki rolled her eyes at the mention of the word commoner.

“Hey!”

“Oh, yeah. I got myself a real nice sweatshirt. It’s real big and comfy and has this big hood—”

“This is a royal ball! You have to wear formal clothes!” Tamaki protested angrily. Yuki snickered at his irritation. “Very well. I understand that poverty is hard for you and Haruhi—”

“We’re not in poverty!”

“But do not fret! Daddy is here for you two! I’ll order you both new and proper suits!” Tamaki continued despite Haruhi and Yuki’s protests.

“Why can’t I just use the one I wore last time?” Haruhi suggested.

“Nonsense! Don’t wear that raggedy thing! You’re getting something fresh and new! I’ll have to add it to both of your tabs, but mommy will take care of that!” Haruhi was pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Can I go home now?” Haruhi grumbled.

“Me too!” At Yuki’s added comments, both cross-dressing girls walked together out the door.

“Wait, Haruhi! Yuki!”

“Bye, senpai!”

* * *

The next day rolled around. It was an ordinary day, nothing particular happening. Yuki dozed off in class, as usual, but this time she was able to stop a few pranks Hikaru and Kaoru were going to throw at her.

However, at the end of the day when the school bell rang, the twins turned around to seize up Yuki before she fled. When they looked at her desk, it was empty. They had hoped to snatch Yuki so she would stay with them all afternoon and evening until the ball. They knew she was a flight risk, and with the way she just slipped under their noses proved just as much.

“Dammit! Where could she have gone?” The twins whined. 

“Probably went home to get ready,” Haruhi answered. 

“Likely story…”

“Relax, guys. She said she’d be at the ball tonight,” she reminded.

The ball rolled around. It was 18:00 and the doors were going to open to dozens and dozens of women at 19:00. All members of the host club, minus Yuki, were dressed sharply in their luxurious new suits and overviewing all the final preparations. Haruhi lifted her wrist and checked her watch before glancing at the door. There was still an hour until the ball begins, but Yuki should have arrived by now.

“We were right! Yuki bailed!” the twins cried.

“Yuki-chan promised to be here!” Hunny whined. 

“I want that young man tracked down this instant! Yuki will not be bailing on us! I will not have it!” Tamaki declared.

“Did anybody tell him that Yuki’s a girl?” Hikaru asked the other members of the host club that huddled behind their king.

“I don’t think Tama-chan knows!”

“Should we tell him?”

“He’s a big boy I’m sure he can figure it out on his own,” Kyoya said. He cleared his throat to gain Tamaki’s attention. “I got a location on Yuki.”

“Really? Where is he? How’d you’d find him?”

“It’s very hard to find accurate information on Yuki Ikeda. But I was able to find a place he frequents and there is a likely possibility he’ll be there right now. It’s an auditorium--”

“What are we waiting for? I want the address! I’m going to drag Yuki here if I have to!” Tamaki cut in.

“I wanna go too!” Hunny offered brightly.

“Field trip!” The twins called.

“Hunny-senpai, you and Mori-senpai should wait here in case Yuki shows up!” Tamaki protested.

“Actually,” Kyoya piped. “I think it would be best if we all went. All the more help. I would hate to have to call my private police force just to get our dog here.”

“Alright, mommy! It’s settled! We’re all going on a family trip!”

Haruhi tried to opt out of the so-called “field trip” or “family trip” and just hang out in Ouran’s grand ballroom with the fancy tuna, but Tamaki would not allow it. It surprised Haruhi that Kyoya wanted everyone to go. What does the Shadow King have up his sleeve? She wondered what Yuki would be doing at an auditorium. Being a part of something didn’t seem likely, so maybe she was there in the audience? It seemed like it was a local one, so Haruhi guessed they would be also near where Yuki lived.

Thanks to the address Kyoya had found, the host club was able to take a drive to a middle-class area. This amazed most members (Tamaki, Hikaru, Kaoru, and Hunny) because they have so rarely ventured out of their wealthy bubble, much to Haruhi’s annoyance. The parking lot of the auditorium was fairly crowded.

“Wow, I’ve never been in a commoner’s parking lot before!” Hunny exclaimed when he hopped out of the shiny black car with the rest of the club following.

They went inside the building but before they could explore further, a big, tall, male usher blocked their path.

“Are you here for the dance competition?” He asked in a deep voice.

“There’s a dance contest here?” The twins muttered. Tamaki looked surprised but assumed a calm and professional demeanor.

“Why, yes we are, my good sir. Perhaps we have run a tad late--”

“You’re very late,” the man cut in. “The competition has sold out.”

“What if we stood quietly in the back?”

“No.”

“Please, sir, we’re looking for a very dear friend of ours,” Tamaki pleaded. “We must find him immediately. It is of utmost importance. We’re all willing to pay at least double the amount of a ticket.”

After much charming pleading from Tamaki, the usher grew irritated and threatened to call security. Hunny found it adorable, but the group took the hint and returned to the parking lot. It wasn’t long before the twins found a backdoor, and everyone snuck in.

“Hey, where did Kyoya-senpai go?” Haruhi whispered.

“Who cares,” Hikaru said.

“I’m sure he’s with the car,” Kaoru suggested. After dodging the usher (and another one in the halls), the six found the central auditorium where a large audience was gathered and classical music was playing. Tamaki quietly commanded the group to search the crowd but not to disturb any of the audience members. He sidestepped along the back wall of the auditorium, craning his neck to get a glimpse of any of the faces. His body bumped into another near the door and he realized he had bumped right into Kyoya.

“Momma! I thought you were in the parking lot!” Tamaki cried. Kyoya’s expression remained collected and neutral and the audience began applauding.

“Senpai!” Haruhi hissed in a hushed tone. Tamaki looked at the brunette, who put a finger to her lips before jerking her thumb in the direction of the front of the room.

On the stage was a dark-skinned girl in a blue dress and slippers. She stood center stage and bowed deeply before waltzing off.

“You have your methods of getting in, I have mine,” Kyoya said.

“Ladies and gentlemen, that was contestant number 34, Miss Nagisa Ishizaka,” a man spoke into a microphone to the left of the stage. “Now let us please welcome to the stage contestant number 35, dancing a ballet piece, ‘Rose Girl.’”

The crowd applauded once more and a figure stepped out from the wings of the stage to the center. Her back was turned and her short frame was clad in a pink leotard and matching pink skirt. A multi-colored rose flower crown sat on her short and dark-haired head and ballet slippers adorned her feet.

The music began at the sound of a piano. The dancer twirled gracefully around and her face shone in the bright stage lights. Tamaki instantly recognized the face--it was the host club’s newest dog-boy, Yuki! Unbelievable! Tamaki’s jaw instantly dropped to the floor and his eyes widened and bugged out to the size of dinner plates.

“Oh my god.”

With perfect precision and poise, Yuki’s body danced elegantly to the piano. Tamaki watched with his bugged eyes mesmerized. She performed many tricks but kept her expression consistently serene. It was such an incredibly strange sight to see tough and angry Yuki...not being so tough and angry and doing the exact opposite. She was clad in pink and flowers and she was dancing ballet and she was doing it surprisingly excellently and her face, not only adorning perfectly applied makeup, was soft and even wistful. It was the last thing anyone expected from the tomboy, but she was captivating.

The song came to an end and Yuki bowed to the applauding audience. Tamaki was bawling loudly and clapping his hands enthusiastically.

“Bravo!” He sniffled. “That was simply breathtaking! That performance was divine! I’ve never seen such beauty!”

“Ladies and gentlemen, that was contestant number 35, Miss Yuki Ikeda,” the MC announced. Tamaki’s teary eyes widened once more when the realization hit him. He looked at Kyoya, who seemed to be adjusting his glasses but kept his expression neutral.

“Wait! _Miss!?_ Yuki! She’s--she’s a girl!? Momma! We have  _two_ crossdressers?!” Tamaki wailed as he clutched to Kyoya’s sleeve and shook it angrily.

“You didn’t know?” Kyoya asked with a smirk.

“No, I didn’t know! How could you have known!? How could you not tell me this!?” Tamaki demanded. “You have a lot of explaining to do! As does Yuki! I’m very mad at the both of you!”

“Cool it, senpai. We all knew,” Haruhi cut to Kyoya’s rescue. Tamaki turned to stone and very slowly, his stone head turned all the way around his shoulders to face Haruhi.

“You...knew...too…?” he uttered.

“Yeah.”

“You...kept...a...secret…?”

“I have lots of secrets I keep, senpai.”

“But...you...didn’t...tell...me?”

“I guess not.”

“C’mon, milord, stop eroding away and let’s go backstage to get Yuki!” the twins swooped in and pulled on Tamaki’s stone arms.

Meanwhile, Yuki strolled through the empty, brightly lit hallway she exited to from backstage, on her way to her team’s dressing room. She swung her arms widely and there was a skip in her step without a care in that moment.

“Who nailed that? I nailed that!” Yuki cheered to herself. Grinning widely, she fist pumped the air and wiggled her body in a small victory dance before bursting into giggles. Yuki twirled around and hummed her own made up victory tune. When she came back around, she was faced with seven suits.

At the sight of the host club, Yuki’s body froze. Her face visibly paled and her arms dropped to her sides. Her wide eyes darted between each member. The twins were grinning mischievously, Tamaki’s expression was stern, Haruhi seemed irritated, Mori’s expression was blank, Kyoya’s was hidden behind his glasses, and Hunny seemed quite pleased.

“Oh my god,” Yuki muttered.

“You have some explaining to do!” Tamaki accused as he stepped closer to Yuki. “First, how dare you not show up to our ball!? After you promised!? You’re in debt to me and I’m the king so you have to do as I say! Second, have you been cross-dressing this whole entire time!? You were a girl in all the time I’ve known you!? And you never told me!? Your own father!? Do you realize how crushing this is!? And not only are you a girl, but you’re a ballerina!? This is where you were instead of our ball!? And you didn’t bother to tell us!?”

“In my defense, I didn’t think you’d find me,” Yuki protested. She started laughing nervously. “Now, you’re probably really upset and I got a really good explanation for you!”

Yuki paused and Tamaki waited. The other members of the host club leaned forward to hear Yuki’s explanation. But instead of doing just that, Yuki whipped on her heel and bolted in the opposite direction.

“She’s getting away!”

“After her!”

In no time, before Yuki could escape to the end of the hallway, she was lifted off the floor and thrown over the shoulder by Mori. Yuki squirmed upside-down in his one-arm grasp and started spitting out swears at everything.

“Way to go, Takashi! You got her!” Hunny praised from Mori’s other shoulder.

“Yes, thank you, Mori-senpai!” Tamaki added. “We have to hurry! We can’t keep the ladies waiting!”

“So this is what the weather is like up here,” Yuki grumbled sarcastically. Mori said nothing, as usual, and began to walk. To where, Yuki couldn’t tell, being upside down and facing his dark cashmere jacket.

“So,” Yuki heard Kaoru drawl beside her.

“‘Rose Girl?’” Hikaru snickered. Yuki scowled. Not that anyone could see that.

“You know, I don’t pick the names! If you got a problem, take it up with my coach!”

“So, Yuki,” Kyoya piped with a smile but also an evil gleam in his eyes, “why did you keep such a thing a secret from us? We could have worked around our schedules better and avoided this whole thing if we had known what you were truly up to.” Yuki gritted her teeth. Man, four eyes really knew how to get under her skin…

“Yeah!” Tamaki, the twins, and Hunny all agreed.

“It was none of your damn business!” Yuki snapped. “I knew you guys would give me crap about it and make fun of me, and I didn’t want to put up with it! I happen to love ballet and all dancing!”

“Hey!” a voice—that didn’t belong to any host—bellowed. “I thought I told you guys except glasses to get lost!”

“Who’s that? What’d you guys do?” Yuki demanded, squirming once more, but it was futile. The host club and Mori started running, much to Yuki’s discomfort. She continued to swear and say things that horrified Tamaki and prompted him to try and cover Haruhi’s ears. But the twins laughed at the sight of their lord’s foolishness and the picture of a pink dressed, flower-crowned ballerina swearing over the shoulder of their senpai.

Eventually, Yuki found herself chilled in the cool night air and shivered. Thankfully, it didn’t last, and Yuki found herself in a sleek leather car seat by the window. She stole a glance to who sat on her right, which she had hoped it was Haruhi, but found Kyoya. Well, it could have been worse. It could have been one or both of the twins, who Yuki was positive would have given her crap about her dance. With an irritated sigh, Yuki propped her arm on the door handle, rested her chin in her palm, and stared out the window in silence.

* * *

_Chapter Three: Rose Girl_


	4. 4

CHAPTER 4

 

“Change into this!” the twins commanded with a charcoal grey suit in hand. They were with Yuki in the backroom of the ballroom, which seemed like a quiet sitting area turned into a makeshift dressing room and coat room.

 

“And hurry the ball’s starting,” Yuki repeated mockingly as she snatched the hanger from their hands. The twins glared at her, but Yuki ignored it. She went into the makeshift dressing room and pulled the curtain closed. “It’s going to take me a while to get my makeup off and this crown out of my hair.”

 

“We got stuff for that.”

 

“How? And how’d you get my size right for this?”

 

“Don’t ask questions and hurry up!” Hikaru urged.

 

“The ball’s starting!”

 

“You’re lucky I know how to tie a bowtie,” Yuki said as she walked out from behind the curtain adjusting her navy blue bowtie.

 

She began to pick at the rose crown that still sat perfectly on her head and pulled numerous hairpins out. Kaoru pulled her over to a mirror and table while Yuki was doing this. He moved Yuki’s hands and began to take out the rose crown himself from behind Yuki. Hikaru stood in front of Yuki and began wiping her face aggressively with makeup remover. Yuki hissed and swatted at his hand, but he rushed to finish the job.

 

“It’s a shame I have to take this off. You look so cute and adorable, like a sweet, innocent girl,” Hikaru teased with a playful pinch to Yuki’s cheek. Yuki glowered at him darkly.

 

“Who knew Yuki had a feminine side?” Kaoru joked. “There really is some girl in you after all!” Yuki elbowed him sharply in the knee, earning a cry from the redhead.

 

“Shut up, carrot heads,” Yuki huffed. The flower crown was finally freed and Yuki shook her hair out, much to Hikaru’s annoyance. “Since I am so obviously a girl now, why can’t I wear a dress and keep the makeup on at the ball?”

 

“You’re cross-dressing! The ladies can’t know that there’s a female in the club,” they answered shortly.

 

They both began to push Yuki by the shoulders out the door. She was brought around to the grand staircase of the ballroom where Kyoya, Haruhi, Hunny, and Mori shuffled to their places. The stairway ascended up to a landing, where on each end another staircase started back upward before the two separate staircases came together at the top balcony. It seemed incredibly unnecessary to have a single staircase split into two only to connect back at the top, but Yuki did admit that with all the lights and decorations and details, it looked very impressive. Yuki eyed the ballroom as women dressed in a variety of expensive and colorful gowns filed in. The chandeliers sparkled beautifully above with long brightly colored streamers hanging between each chandelier. The entire ballroom was decorated to extraordinary detail in gold, white, and silver, and if Yuki wasn’t cross-dressing in a suit and held against her will, she would have felt like a princess at a royal ball. The little girl deep inside Yuki was jumping for joy at the sight of her extravagant surroundings.

 

But, that little girl had to be buried deeper as Yuki took in the reality of the situation. She was far from a princess and tonight, whether she liked it or not, she would have to play prince. It was irritating, but Yuki forced herself to get over and just accept the current situation as it was.

 

“Is this even necessary? I’m not even a host,” Yuki said.

 

“You’re still a member of the club, Yuki-chan!” Hunny reminded. Yuki rolled her eyes.

 

“But it is true that you are not a host, so we’ll have you stand on the end.” Kyoya pointed to the empty spot beside Mori.

 

“I don’t like this lineup,” Yuki complained as she made her way to the taller upperclassman. “I mean, I don’t like being part of it at all, but at least organize it more accordingly to height. It’d look a thousand times better--hey, wait a minute! Tamaki-senpai isn’t here! That means I’m not the last one here which means you guys didn’t have to rush me! The star of this goddamn circus isn’t even read--”

 

Yuki was abruptly silenced when all the shining chandeliers shut off and the ballroom was draped in darkness. Yuki yelped a curse in surprise, while the women below gasped and started whispering amongst themselves.

 

After a moment of quiet darkness, there was twin bursts of light and shiny confetti that exploded with a loud whizzing noise at the foot of the staircase. Another pair shot off halfway up the single staircase immediately following the first two. One after another, pairs of sparkling light and confetti went off in a pattern that ascended the entire staircase (one went off next to Yuki and scared her nearly half to death). It ended with the largest and loudest pair of them at the top of the staircase. Yuki watched as Tamaki’s silhouette appeared in the light between the two exploding beacons.

 

An orchestra began to play music from a place Yuki couldn’t spot and the sound filled the ballroom and hushed all the excited schoolgirls. A spotlight was lit and shone above Yuki, where she assumed it was on Tamaki at the top of the staircase. The girls squealed gleefully at the sight of the king.

 

“My sweet princesses,” Tamaki’s voice was soft, yet spoken into a microphone clipped to his lapel so his voice could resound throughout the entire ballroom. “The host club and I would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for joining us on this lovely evening. We truly hope we can make you feel the same happiness you have graced us with. Please, dance and enjoy yourselves to your heart’s content. And tonight, I hope to find one lucky girl to be my Cinderella so that we may share a kiss under the stars.”

 

 _Oh my God, I can't believe this is actually happening right now,_ Yuki mused. But the ladies were sold. They immediately burst into squeals, giggles, and ultimately, applause as Tamaki bowed gracefully. At the moment he bowed, the lights flickered back on. Out from God only knows where, hundreds of balloons cascaded down from the ceiling upon the entire ballroom and the girls shrieked with joy at the magical sight. Yuki peered at the ceiling and tried to find where the balloons came from, but saw nothing but decorations and lights. She did, however, spot the sound of music originating from an orchestra off to the side of the room where she hasn’t noticed before.

 

“We’d like to once again welcome you to our biannual ball,” Kyoya spoke to the crowd with a kind smile. “The host club encourages you to help yourselves to our variety of refreshments we have provided for you this evening. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to approach one of us. We hope you will enjoy the night.”

 

And so, the night has begun. Tamaki sprung with surprising elegance from his spot on the balcony to the landing where the rest of the host club was gathered.

 

“And don’t you worry, Haruhi!” Tamaki assured with a proud grin. “We got a special platter of fancy tuna just for you!”

 

Haruhi previously looked disinterested in Tamaki’s dramatic introduction, but perked up brightly at Tamaki’s words.

 

“Wow. Thanks, senpai!” Haruhi smiled. She—along with Hikaru, Kaoru, Hunny, and Mori—made their way to the dancefloor. “Don’t mind if I do.”

 

“You are welcome to help yourself, Yuki. We’ve got quite the spread,” Kyoya said as he and Yuki were the last to descend the stairway. Yuki yawned. “You will have to be carrying a platter of refreshments and offering them to the ladies throughout the ball, however.”

 

“All I need is a big mug of coffee,” Yuki muttered.

 

“We do have instant coffee, per Tamaki’s request, and to keep the women energetic and lively this evening.”

 

“Remind me as to why I have to be the one lugging around food?”

 

“It’s part of the job description you tossed away. You are our dogboy, after all. Since you’re not technically a host, you won’t be dancing with the ladies as often as we are, but you still are a member and represent the club, so you do have to serve our customers,” he explained.

 

“What if someone asks me to dance with them? Do I say no?”

 

“Of course not. A member of the host club never turns away a request,” he replied. “You will dance with her, if she asks.”

 

“I am the best dancer in this room.” Yuki flashed Kyoya a grin, but he ignored her. “So if the host club never turns away a request, then what about _my_ requests? What if I asked you to dance with me? Or what if I asked you to give me a foot rub?”

 

“Paying customers only. And you are far from a paying customer. Besides, the latter is unreasonable since the women can afford professionals for such things. We serve strictly to entertain. Anything else would exceed unnecessarily and we’d have to charge extra.”

 

“I bet you’re making a ton of money off this shing-ding.”

 

“Why else would we host such an event? It never fails to bring in the most amount of money for the club.”

 

“All about the money with you, four eyes,” Yuki said with a sigh.

 

“There isn’t much else that matters, is there?”

 

“Whatever.” Yuki stuffed her hands in her pockets and stormed away from the upperclassman, muttering under her breath how much animals are better than people. She made her way to the long clothed table where all different kinds of food were spread out upon. Haruhi was munching on her fancy tuna at the other end of the table.

 

Yuki was able to find the coffee and give herself a good drink of it from a teacup before she started working. She carried a platter of miniature eclairs. Yuki would be lying if she said she didn’t sneak one. Or two. Or ten, but who was counting anyway? As all members of the host club danced the night away, Yuki refreshed drinks, took unwanted ones, and asked if some women if they were enjoying themselves. Her cerise eyes drew to Haruhi quite often and she couldn’t help but stare at the waltzing brunette. Something seemed off, but Yuki couldn’t put her finger on it.

 

Surprisingly, there was on a few occasions—if Yuki currently wasn’t serving hors d’oeuvres—where she was asked to dance. She obliged and actually enjoyed herself in doing so. It wasn’t the most ideal situation for her, but every request excited her to no end. The little girl in her secretly wished she was in a ballgown dancing the night away with a handsome prince, but dancing like this was enjoyable enough. In fact, Yuki enjoyed dancing so much, that she asked some ladies herself who didn’t seem preoccupied with anything.

 

The ladies enjoyed themselves with Yuki and were quite impressed with her footwork and dancing skills. Many went back to ask her for another dance, which Yuki agreed to happily. Yuki’s growing popularity shocked and slightly irritated Tamaki as the night went on and Yuki seemed to enjoy reminding him of that.

 

“Man, I wish Haruhi could have worn a cute, pretty little ballgown! My little girl would have been so beautiful and I could have danced the night away with her,” Tamaki said with a sigh.

 

“You know how it is,” Kyoya reminded beside him. Tamaki groaned loudly.

 

“Yes, yes, I know how it is, Kyoya!” Tamaki pouted. “Maybe the two of us can sneak away without anyone noticing and we can waltz our own secret serenade!”

 

“You wouldn’t get away with it. You two are the most popular hosts this evening,” Kyoya said. Tamaki sighed deeply and draped himself against a pillar dramatically.

 

Across the ballroom, Yuki walked swiftly up to Haruhi as soon as she was free from the last lady. Yuki tapped the honors student on the shoulder lightly to prompt her to turn around and focus her attention on Yuki.

 

“Oh, hey, Yuki,” Haruhi greeted. “What’s up?”

 

“You wanna dance?”

 

Haruhi blinked. “Dance?”

 

“Yeah. Just a little bit.” Haruhi glanced at the other hosts, who were too preoccupied with dancing ladies.

 

“Why?”

 

“Why not?” Yuki returned. “C’mon. It’ll be fun. And quick. It’ll be a nice break from dancing with these girls. And I promise I won’t step on your toes.”

 

“I can’t make such a promise,” Haruhi admitted. Yuki shrugged in response. “Alright.”

 

Yuki and Haruhi took hands. Haruhi reached to place a hand on Yuki’s hip, but Yuki moved her hand to her shoulder.

 

“I’d like to be the guy in this. Do you mind?”

 

“No. It doesn’t really matter,” Haruhi replied.

 

Yuki smiled and placed her hand on Haruhi’s hip. At the next beat, the two began to dance with Yuki leading. Haruhi was quite impressed with Yuki’s skills and with the way she moved to the music with such expert footing. It wasn’t a surprise to Haruhi now that she learned Yuki was a dancer--and an excellent one at that. She was so good that Haruhi wanted to go back again and watch her perform.

 

Perhaps only a minute into the waltz, Yuki stopped and removed her hands. Haruhi furrowed her brow in confusion at Yuki’s strange behavior.

 

“I knew it!” Yuki exclaimed. “You’re a girl.”

 

“Shhh!” Haruhi looked around nervously but thankfully no one seemed to notice their conversation. “Let’s go over here.”

 

The pair walked over to a corner in the back of the ballroom, far from most of the activity.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t anybody tell me?” Yuki demanded.

 

“Sorry, Yuki. I wasn’t trying to keep it from you. I just forgot you didn’t know,” Haruhi said.

 

“You forgot?”

 

“Yeah. I don’t really think about my gender. It’s not something I think I have to tell people. I don’t really care if you see me as a boy or a girl, as long as you see me as me,” Haruhi explained. “And in my defense, you didn’t tell me you were a girl too.”

 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I was just screwing around. I thought it was funny that people saw me as a guy, because I’m used to everyone seeing me as a girl. So I thought I’d run with it for a bit. I was going to tell you eventually, but I wanted to see how long I could get away with it. Three days, I guess,” Yuki said with a chuckle.

 

“Actually, I found out the day I met you,” Haruhi confessed.

 

“How’d you find out!?”

 

“I figured it out. Maybe it was women’s intuition. Maybe it’s because you were doing something that I would do. You looked like you were scratching your shoulder, but I knew you were actually pulling up a bra strap,” she answered. Yuki snorted.

 

“Busted.”

 

“So, you’re not mad?”

 

Yuki shook her head and flashed a smiled. “Nah, I’m not mad. Surprised, but I got over it. We’re fine.”

 

A timid young girl approached Yuki and Haruhi asking Haruhi for a dance, leaving Yuki to return to the food and start snacking.

 

However, it was a little while longer after that when the ballroom was suddenly plunged into darkness. Yuki nearly spat out her second swig of coffee while the female guests gasped nervously. Kyoya checked his watch and then looked at Tamaki, who was looking at him with a worried expression.

 

“No need to worry, ladies! There are some technical difficulties I will fix straight away! I must part with you for some time now, and you will be dearly missed, but I promise you I will return the power to our evening, even if it’s the last thing I do!” Tamaki reassured and the women swooned. He turned on his heel and made his way to the large double doors of the ballroom as the host club flocked to his side. Many of the girls called out tearful farewells, wishing the king luck on his dangerous journey.

 

“Milord, what are we going to do?” Hikaru and Kaoru asked quietly.

 

“Everyone should remain here and keep the ladies calm and distracted from this,” Tamaki instructed. “Kyoya’s currently calling someone but he and I will head to the electrical room to investigate.”

 

“Roger that, Tama-chan!” Hunny agreed with eager determination. Hunny, Mori, Hikaru, and Kaoru returned their attention to the ballroom full of anxious schoolgirls. Haruhi followed after Tamaki and Kyoya.

 

“Was this part of this year’s plan?” Haruhi asked.

 

“Well, not exactly. The actor we hired wasn’t supposed to arrive until midnight, and this isn’t what we rehearsed!” Tamaki replied. “He is supposed to arrive at midnight, right, Kyoya?”

 

“Yes. And he was supposed to make a ruckus and try to break into the ball, but he’s early,” he answered.

 

Yuki had lingered behind in the ballroom, unsure of who to follow after. She wasn’t sure if she could be helpful to reassuring crying women.

 

“Oh, no!”

 

Yuki’s head whipped over to the owner of the cry—Kaoru. He was hunched over a collapsed and seemingly unconscious Hikaru. Yuki rushed over to the twins’ sides, as did all of the girls. Kaoru held Hikaru in his arms and his eyes shone with tears in the moonlight.

 

“Hikaru! Hikaru! Speak to me!” Kaoru pleaded desperately. Yuki frowned and realized this is what Tamaki meant by distraction. The girls murmured concerned comments among each other, wondering what could have happened to Hikaru and how would Kaoru be able to handle it. Deciding not to put up with this, Yuki weaved her way around the women and jogged out the door to follow Tamaki, Kyoya, and Haruhi.

 

Tamaki angrily yanked on the door handle and tugged on it, but the locked door wouldn’t budge. He threw his arms into the air and whipped his head towards Kyoya.

 

“Don’t you have a key?”

 

“No.”

 

“You need a key?” Yuki asked. Tamaki inhaled sharply (and loudly) and jumped ten feet into the air.

 

“Don’t sneak up behind me like that! You almost gave me a heart attack! I thought I told you to stay behind!” Tamaki yelled, pointing a finger at Yuki.

 

“I thought you said I _should,_ but that doesn’t mean I have to,” Yuki said. “After I saw the twins’ distraction, I thought I could be more helpful here.”

 

“How do you have the key to the electrical room?” Haruhi quirked an eyebrow.

 

Yuki chuckled. “I don’t,” she said as she pulled a pin out of her hair. She stepped to the door and stuck the hairpin into the keyhole. After a moment of fidgeting and wiggling the pin inside the lock, there was an audible _click!_ Yuki pulled on the handle and the door opened.

 

“How were you able to do such a thing? Magic!?” Tamaki gasped.

 

“You learn a thing or two in poverty,” Yuki replied which left Tamaki with his mouth hanging open. The foursome entered the small room and started investigating. Kyoya examined one wall where many things were plugged into. At least, should have been plugged into. At his feet was a large pile of tangled indistinguishable cords.

 

“I think I found the source of our problem,” Kyoya announced.

 

“Did somebody get in here?” Yuki asked.

 

“The door was locked,” Haruhi said. “And there’s a window over there, but it’s too small for a person to get through.”

 

“I could probably get through that.”

 

“Likely not, Yuki.”

 

“What are we going to do? We can’t end the ball now! We gotta get this fixed!”

 

“The school custodian won’t be here for another half hour,” Kyoya informed. Tamaki groaned loudly and ran a hand through his blond hair.

 

“Maybe we can start plugging stuff in until something works. Or maybe we can cut up the wires and zap them together to get the power back on. Or maybe we can all play a game in the dark—”  


“Why don’t we just move the ball outside?” Haruhi suggested as she stood by the window. “It looks like the building is out of power, but the garden looks well-lit over here. We won’t have any decorations except the flowers and the fountains, but the band can play outside, can’t they?”

 

“And you did say you’d give a kiss under the stars,” Yuki added in a slightly sarcastic tone.

 

“That’s my little genius! You’re so cute when you’re coming up with ideas,” Tamaki gushed as he pulled Haruhi into a one-arm hug by the shoulders. “Absolutely brilliant! Let’s get on with it, Kyoya! We can’t keep the ladies waiting any longer!”

 

The four proceeded back to the ballroom to relay the information to the other hosts, along with the guests. With some magic words, the girls fell in love with the idea of waltzing under the moonlight, much to everyone’s relief. The orchestra moved itself outside under a lamppost and began to prepare for more dances for the rest of the night.

 

Without any warning, there was a loud _crash!_ The snack table came tumbling down on its side, stopping and terribly startling the guests filing out to the garden. The food was thrown and splattered in every direction, and drinks spilled across the marble floor.

 

“Eek!”

 

“What was that?!”

 

“Is there an intruder!?”

 

“A murderer!?”

 

“There’s blood all over the walls!”

 

The hosts were panicking themselves and frantically exchanging nervous expressions. No one had been near the snack table, but something knocked it over.

 

Hunny whispered, “this wasn’t part of the plan, was it?” All eyes were on the king, who swallowed thickly and stood up straight.

 

“Have no fear, princesses,” Tamaki said slowly. He took a nervous step forward towards the snack table. “I will protect you from this...menace!”

 

A large shadow crept along the marble pillars across the ballroom from the fallen snack table. He stopped short at the sight and the girls shrieked. The shadow was large and wide, lopsided against the pillars, but definitely not a humanoid shadow.

 

“Monster!”

 

“There’s a monster!”

 

“Look! The tablecloth is moving!”

 

A girl pointed to the stained white tablecloth that had crumpled to the floor from the crash. It was moving by an unseen force and dragging behind the fallen table.

 

“This definitely isn’t our guy,” the twins said fearfully. Immediately, Yuki darted forward to the table. Tamaki was frozen at the spot with only his violet irises darting around the ballroom for any other supernatural occurrences.  

 

“No, Yuki!”  


“It’s too dangerous!”

 

Yuki circled the fallen table and peered closely at the damage. She didn’t bother stepping carefully, since these weren’t _her_ fancy expensive shoes. When she was on the other side of the table, she crouched down and disappeared from view, earning gasps from the crowd. Not a moment later, Yuki popped back into view as she straightened up with something in her arms.

 

“No need to panic,” Yuki assured, approaching the crowd. She adjusted her arms and revealed a grey colored cat wearing a green collar. The cat’s blue eyes swept the room before meowing. Tamaki’s jaw hit the floor. “It’s just a cat! This little guy must have gotten into the electrical room and played with the wires. Maybe he freaked when the lights went out. He knocked over the table, and that blood you see is actually just sauce from the food.”

 

“Oh, thank goodness!”

 

“How cute!”

 

“You saved us all, Yuki!”

 

“You’re my hero!”

 

“Yuki-kun looks adorable with a cat!”

 

“Thank you, Yuki!”

 

After encouragement from the hosts, the relieved girls resumed exiting out of the darkened ballroom to one of the academy’s gardens.

 

“Hey, senpai, you’re going to catch flies if you leave your mouth hanging open like that,” Yuki teased. “I’m going to have to run this guy to the animal shelter. He’s not a stray because he’s got a collar here, so he might just be lost.”

 

“A cat!? It was a stupid cat this whole time!?” Tamaki demanded. “I don’t believe this! This wasn’t what was supposed to happen! I had this planned out so I could be the hero tonight!”

 

“You had it planned?”  


 

“Yes! I hired an actor to break in and try to ruin the ball, but then I would fight him off and protect the maidens! I won’t just be a king, I’d be like a knight in shining armor!”

 

“Way to ruin the plan,” the twins called. Yuki rolled her eyes and absentmindedly scratched the cat behind the ears.

 

“You hired yourself an actor...to make yourself look good?”

 

“Yes! Brilliant, right?”

  
  
“What a dumbass,” Yuki insulted bluntly. “You guys all knew about this?” All members of the host club nodded. Yuki scowled. “And you didn’t bother to tell me!?”

 

“We planned this before you joined,” Kyoya said.

 

“Why would you plan such a dumb thing so far in advance?”

 

“Actually, we just planned it four days ago,” the twins informed. Yuki twitched.

 

“I’m so done with all of you.”

 

Moving the ball outside proved to be a big success. The garden was already well-lit with many lamps to add to the illumination of the moon and stars. There was a large, rectangular pond and a stone patio that was surrounded by cherry blossom trees and rose bushes. The orchestra filled the night air with music and everyone danced happily around the pond. It was far more enjoyable for Yuki to get out of the stuffy ballroom and into fresh air. Also, there were no more hors d’oeuvres because they were currently all over the ballroom floor. Also, there was a cat there and Yuki got to carry that cat around in her arms because that cat was better than almost every person she was surrounded with. Also, she had many girls swooning over her heroic efforts and Tamaki sulked in the shadows more than once. Things were going good. The only downside, which wasn’t even really that bad, was that Yuki was attracting way more attention than she had earlier, even stealing girls from the other hosts. Her “heroic efforts” and the image of carrying around a cat had stolen the hearts of the girls.

 

Just before the clock struck midnight, Tamaki crawled out of his lonely dark hole of woe and cheerfully selected his Cinderella. Yuki didn’t know the girl, nor did she care to, but recognized her face as one of Tamaki’s regulars. Everyone watched them in front of the fountain. Tamaki said something soft to the lucky girl and no one could really hear what he said, but she nearly fainted at his words. Cupping her cheek, Tamaki brought his lips to hers. Once the illuminated clock tower ticked to midnight, it chimed loudly three times.

 

“At least he stopped moping around,” Yuki said to Haruhi.

 

“Aside from the blackout, this is going better than last year,” Haruhi said. “I had to give the kiss.” Yuki snorted.

 

“I guess there’s some perks to being the dogboy,” Yuki mused. Haruhi shrugged but then suddenly sneezed. “Bless you. You sick?”

 

“I think it’s the cat.” Yuki looked at the said creature in her arms.

 

“Oh, sorry. I’ll just go over here.” Yuki gave Haruhi one last smile before walking away. She wandered away from the ball along the sidewalk. As she continued on her way, she noticed a figure sitting on the stone steps in the shadows, far from sight from the ball. Yuki quickened her pace to the figure and she soon discovered it was a crying girl. She was very pretty, like all the other girls, dressed in a blue gown and her black hair into a curly updo.

 

“Um,” Yuki cleared her throat to catch her attention. The girl gasped in surprise and her teary, doe-like eyes locked onto Yuki before relaxing. “Hey there.”

 

“Oh, hi. You’re Yuki-kun, right?” she asked with a sniffle.

 

“Yeah. Mind if I sit?”

 

“Well, actually, I was wanting to be alone right now…”

 

“That’s no fun. I’m just gonna pop a squat for a second here,” Yuki flashed her a smile before plopping down on the step beside the girl. She frowned at Yuki, but gave no protest. “So, what’s your name?”

 

“Ai Misumi.”

 

“I’m Yuki Ikeda.”

 

“Pleasure,” Ai said disinterestedly. Yuki pursed her lips and stroked the cat she was still cradling in her arms.

 

“What year are you?”

 

“First year.”

 

“Me too!” That seemed to get Ai’s eyes back on Yuki. “So why were you crying?”

 

“You’ll think it’s stupid,” she responded as her face flushed and she looked away from Yuki again.

 

“Probably not,” Yuki assured. She scooted herself closer to Ai and her expression softened to one of concern. “Maybe if you tell me, I can make it better. At least, I will try to.”

 

A heavy sigh escaped from Ai’s lips as she casted her gaze downward. “I was really hoping to be Tamaki-senpai’s Cinderella tonight.”

 

“Yeah, that is stupid.” Yuki regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. She nearly winced when Ai’s face turned to Yuki with a horrified expression and more tears welling in her eyes. “What I mean to say is—is that this whole thing is stupid. It’s meaningless. It’s not worth your tears. Senpai’s kiss doesn’t determine your self-worth. Nothing a boy can do to you will determine that. And senpai would agree with me too.”

 

Ai sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her manicured hand and asked, “Really?”

 

“Hell yeah! Look, so you’re not senpai’s Cinderella. That doesn’t mean you’re not pretty or smart. In fact, you’re probably smarter than me. You’re definitely very pretty, but you don’t need me to tell you that. You don’t need anybody to tell you that except yourself. You should look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that you’re beautiful and if you believe that, then nothing else matters. As long as you’re happy with yourself, you can do anything. And hey, if you really want to be Cinderella, then be Cinderella. You are to somebody, Misumi-san.” _Wow, who knew I had that in me?_ Yuki wondered internally.

 

Ai’s brown irises filled with tears that trickled out of the corners and rolled down her cheeks freely. Yuki froze and panicked. Oh, no no no no no! This is why she shouldn’t be in charge of these things!

 

“Oh crap—I’m—I’m so sorry, Misumi-san. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Just forget what I said. Do you want to pet the cat? He’s real sweet and purrs a lot—”

 

“Yuki-kun,” she sobbed. Suddenly, Ai closed the space between herself and Yuki and brought a soft kiss to Yuki’s cheek. “Thank you.”

 

Yuki couldn’t stop her eyes from widening or her mouth dropping open in surprise. She had never been kissed on the cheek before, or even kissed by a girl for that matter! Was she supposed to do this regularly? Was she supposed to give kisses on the lips? Because she’s a guy to everyone? Yeah, Yuki was incredibly relieved Ai wasn’t angry or upset with her and that she had actually helped, but nothing could have ever prepared Yuki for a peck on the cheek.

 

“S-sure…” _Quick, Yuki, say something else! Don't let there be silence! Say something the others would be proud of!_ “I hope you’ll still come to visit the club?”

 

“I probably will still go. I really enjoy everyone’s company,” Ai admitted, a small smile finally spreading across her face. “I wish you were a host though.”

 

“Yeah, well, uh, duty calls…” Yuki paused. Hey, it was nice to know someone around here liked her. “Why don’t we go back to the ball? They’re still dancing over there and you shouldn’t miss out on it.”

 

Ai’s smile grew, revealing perfect, white, pearl-like teeth, and she nodded before bringing a hand to the cat’s head. “Sure!”

 

Yuki and Ai walked back to the ball. To Yuki’s secret relief, Ai went to go talk to some friends of hers, leaving Yuki alone with the cat once more. Yuki released a sigh and a weight was lifted off her shoulders.

 

“Yuki,” a deep voice said from behind the crossdresser. Yuki yelped and nearly dropped the cat from her arms as she spun around on her heel. She came face to face (well, face to chest) with Mori. Oh, geez, the silent guy was going to give her a hard time about Ai, isn’t he?

 

“What’s up, Mori-senpai?”

 

“The cat. I’ll take care of him for you,” Mori offered. Yuki raised her eyebrows.

 

“Really?” Yuki asked. “I’m taking you up on that offer before you change your mind. Thanks, Mori-senpai. You’re really saving me a trip.”

 

Yuki handed the grey cat over to Mori and sat comfortably in the cradle of the taller man’s arms.

 

“Also, Yuki,” Mori added just as Yuki was about to turn away. “You danced well tonight. On the stage.”

 

A genuine smile lit up Yuki’s face and her heart warmed.

 

“Thanks, Mori-senpai.” Yuki didn’t know what to make of the hosts. Tamaki was an idiot, Haruhi was pretty cool, Kyoya was an ass, but she also realized that Mori was a really nice guy.

 

It wasn’t much later that the ball had come to an end. The host club watched as the guests left in expensive cars and limousines. There wasn’t a need to stay and clean up, since a clean-up crew was hired. Yuki was ordered by the others to clean up the place as part of her job, but she gave a death glare that was intensified by the dark bags under her eyes and it scared Tamaki and the twins away.

 

“So, I have a question for you guys,” Yuki announced to the hosts after the last girl left. “So, all the girls think I’m a guy? And I have to keep pretending that I’m a guy? I mean, I don’t care, but why does this have to happen?”

 

“Girls can’t work in the host club!” Tamaki answered. “Then the attention wouldn’t be solely on them! They’d hate to have competition!”

 

“But I’m not even a host!”

 

“Our sales would still plummet,” Kyoya piped.

 

“Our host club exists to entertain girls and make them as happy as can be. We do this in a very specific environment and that environment cannot be tampered with! I would absolutely love it and highly encourage for both of my daughters to embrace their feminine side with cute dresses and pretty bows, but they must do so outside of school!” Tamaki insisted.

 

Afterward, everyone parted ways and headed home. Yuki was irritated by the club’s strict rules, but she wondered to herself...what would happen if everyone found out she was a girl biologically? Tamaki said girls can’t work in the host club, so if everyone found out, then what would happen to her? She couldn’t work in the club. She’d be kicked out. And if Yuki was kicked out of the host club, then there was no way to repay her debt and she would be as free as a bird.

* * *

Chapter Four: Cinderella


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